We’ve seen several drivers at NASCAR’s top level score their breakout season over the last few years: Briscoe, Blaney, Byron, Reddick, and van Gisbergen come to mind. On the other hand, several others have yet to do so. If it is a short career or just pure bad luck, let’s take a look at drivers who can make 2026 their season.
Josh Berry
Josh Berry scored his first career Cup Series victory early in 2025 with a win at Las Vegas. He and the 21 team had a lot of speed early in the season, but the team fell flat through the middle of the year and had just pure dumb luck in the Playoffs. With a renewed sense and a new rules package for 2026, the Wood Brothers 21 team could be poised to pop off their first multi-win season in decades.
Michael McDowell
McDowell and the No. 71 team at Spire Motorsports scored the best non-playoff finish of his career in 2025, 22nd. Although it was not a season to write home about, we have seen the investments into the team that Spire has made over the past couple of seasons, and Michael’s drive to perform this late in his career could be a mix to success. McDowell is a 2x Cup winner, and he would love to add to that.
Bubba Wallace
Following the birth of his son, Bubba had one of his best career seasons and even scored a Crown Jewel win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A second win of the season was a mere corner and a half away for Wallace later in the season, but it was taken away by a misjudgment by his team’s co-owner. But with the 23XI lawsuit and the potential of having to search for a job in the coming year, were likely hovering over his head and potentially clouding his focus. In 2026, neither Bubba nor his 23 team will have to worry about that; they can focus on improving the fantastic speed the 23 team saw in the second half of the season and get multiple wins.
Carson Hocevar
Carson was just a few dozen laps away from victory at his home track of Michigan International Speedway before losing a tire earlier last season. On top of that, Carson led laps and impressed on track in multiple races, but inexperience nipped him each time. With a new focus for the new season and if he learns from his mistakes, I think Carson Hocevar won’t just score a single win in 2026, but a damn good shot at multiples.
Austin Cindric
Cindric is a three-time Cup winner, but in three seasons. He’s a Daytona 500 Champion and has shown a lot of speed. But putting together whole races seems to be a struggle for the No. 2 Penske team. That’s not common for Team Penske, so you know they’re working on it. If they can clean up some of the DNFs and short tracks, Cinric will be on his way to the promised land with the entire 2 team.
Image Credit: Patrick Vallely
